The man who had once professed deep affection and promised to be her warmest safe harbor, the best friend who had once cried and laughed alongside her, were the most important people in her life. Yet now they were exposed before her in the ugliest and most disgraceful way imaginable. The irony was unbearable.
The air conditioner was running at full power, cold air surging out in waves. Though rage blazed across her heart, her body felt faintly chilled. In this space filled with a certain intimate scent, she felt so nauseated she wanted to vomit, yet she forced herself to endure it. She was in no hurry to leave. She wanted to keep her eyes wide open and clearly see the ugly state of these two shameless creatures.
In her previous life, she had been deceived by these two for ten long years. The thought that she had fed her most beautiful years to dogs made her want to tear them apart with her bare hands on the spot.
She stood straight with her arms crossed, lips pressed tightly together, looking at them with a stern expression. Though she was only 168 centimeters tall, her presence felt towering, forcing the two on the bed to look up at her.
“Ling Wei, please, delete the video,” Qi Qi begged pitifully.
Ling Wei narrowed her eyes at them. “With skin as thick as yours, you’re afraid of being filmed? Maybe this video could even make you famous and get you into the entertainment industry ahead of time.”
“Ling Wei!” Ye Zichu growled in frustration. “Don’t go too far!”
Ling Wei was so angry she laughed. “Who’s going too far? You two were already secretly together and still came to provoke me. Who exactly is going too far?”
Without the quilt to cover her and not daring to move for fear of angering Ling Wei, Qi Qi could only curl herself into a ball. But she cared about none of that. What she cared about most was the phone in Ling Wei’s hand. “Xiao Wei, we were wrong. We’re sorry. You can hit us or scold us as you like, just please delete the video, okay?” She was about to graduate and wanted to enter the entertainment industry. She could not let this video ruin everything.
“Do you have the right to negotiate with me?” Ling Wei tightened her grip on the phone. When she had been kept in the dark before, no matter what Ye Zichu looked like, she found him pleasing to the eye. She had even thought his body proportions were among the best compared to many male stars. Now, looking at him again, she felt nothing but disgust. One more glance made her want to retch. This was clearly a beast wearing human skin.
“What exactly do you want?” Qi Qi demanded, eyes red.
Ling Wei suddenly found it absurd. She was the one who had been betrayed, yet she had not lost control. Where did they get the audacity to get angry at her?
“What do I want?” she murmured, then frowned. “I don’t want much. Since this relationship was nothing but deception from beginning to end, there’s no sentiment left to speak of. Let’s settle the accounts.”
Her gaze rested on Ye Zichu. “We dated for two years. The things you gave me can be counted on one hand. But the branded clothes, bags, shoes, and cosmetics I gave you are too many to count. That money needs to be settled.”
Ye Zichu stared at her in disbelief. “You gave those to me voluntarily. I never asked you to buy them.”
Ling Wei sneered. “At the time I believed you truly loved me, so of course I was willing to give them. Now that I know it was all a scam, naturally I want appropriate compensation.”
“You…”
Ling Wei frowned and cut him off. “I said you have no right to bargain with me. You lived in my house for seven months and never paid a single cent toward living expenses. That money needs to be repaid as well.”
Since her sophomore year in university, she had gradually begun taking on performance jobs. Her income was far higher than Ye Zichu’s. In addition, her mother had left her a considerable sum of savings, so she had never worried about money. After she started dating Ye Zichu, she knew she earned more and did not fuss over it. She covered most of their daily expenses. Thinking about it now, it all felt tragically pathetic. She had given wholeheartedly, only for it to become a colossal joke.
“I’m not asking for an outrageous amount. After all, you’re poorer than I am. Adding up all the bits and pieces, just pay me three hundred thousand. I’ve always been reasonable, so I won’t even ask for compensation for emotional damages.”
“Three hundred thousand? Why don’t you just rob us!” Qi Qi could no longer sit still.
“This is what I consider the most reasonable solution. If you think it’s ridiculous, there’s a way that doesn’t cost money. I can send the video out and blow this whole thing up. Once I’ve vented my anger, I naturally won’t need you to compensate me. Which option do you prefer?”
Ye Zichu’s face turned ashen, his lips trembling. “I didn’t expect you to be this vicious. You know perfectly well I don’t have three hundred thousand.”
Ling Wei let out a cold laugh and glanced around the apartment. “The location of this place is pretty good. It should be worth seven or eight hundred thousand. How could you not have money?”
“One hundred thousand. I’ll transfer it to you right now,” Qi Qi said decisively. She understood that arguing further was useless. They were clearly in the wrong, so she quickly tried to bargain.
Ling Wei did not even spare Qi Qi a glance. She continued speaking to Ye Zichu. “For the sake of your own reputations, you’d better repay your debts as soon as possible.” With that, she turned and walked out without looking back.
Flustered and anxious, Qi Qi hurriedly shoved Ye Zichu. Ye Zichu rolled off the bed and dashed after Ling Wei without even dressing, catching up to her in a few steps. “You can’t leave. You have to delete the video!”
Ling Wei calmly looked at his disheveled state. “What, you want to snatch my phone? Fine, take a look. My filming skills are actually quite good.”
Ye Zichu trembled as he grabbed the phone and frantically swiped through it. He discovered that the video Ling Wei had recorded had already been sent out. His whole body went rigid. Staring in disbelief, he stammered, “You actually sent it?!” He hurried to tap the recall option, only to find that the time limit had already passed. He stood there, completely dumbfounded.
“I’ve already sent the video to my assistant. Deleting it now is useless. Just do as I say,” Ling Wei said with a disdainful glance. She stepped forward, took back her phone, turned around gracefully, and walked toward the front door, thoughtfully closing it behind her.
With a click, the door shut, completely separating them into two different worlds.
Although she had gained the upper hand in the confrontation just now, Ling Wei did not feel happy at all. Her mood was heavy. By the time she reached the first floor, she realized her face was already soaked in tears. She was in no hurry to leave. Instead, she found a shaded corner beneath the stairs, crouched down, rested her head on her knees, and silently wept.
Ye Zichu had once been the love of her life, the man she had resolved to love for a lifetime. She had given herself to him without reservation for ten years, only to discover it had all been a complete scam. In that deception, Ye Zichu and Qi Qi deserved awards for best actor and best actress, while she had been the only fool fully invested in the performance.
In this grand drama that had lasted ten years, she had ultimately paid with her life for a ridiculous and absurd curtain call.
Ling Wei wept quietly, mourning the love and the life she once had.
Fortunately, heaven had pitied her and given her another chance. This time, she would never again trust anyone so easily, nor would she give her feelings so readily.
Hurried footsteps echoed down the staircase. Ling Wei wiped her tears and shrank further into the shadows. She did not want anyone to see her in such a miserable state.
“Hurry and catch up with her. If not, just go find her assistant directly,” Qi Qi’s voice rang out.
“I know, I know. Stop pushing me,” Ye Zichu replied.
“You’re so useless. You should have grabbed the phone the moment she came in.”
“I was completely stunned at the time, okay!”
Their footsteps grew closer, then rushed toward the main entrance. They never noticed the person crouching under the stairs.
Ling Wei wiped her face and peeked out, watching the door swing open and then close automatically. Suddenly she burst into laughter through her tears. Seeing their anxious and flustered expressions finally gave her a trace of satisfaction. She took out her phone and opened WeChat. In her chat with Xiao Ruo, the lone video sat there quietly. Xiao Ruo had been cautious and had not replied carelessly. Ling Wei exited WeChat and called her directly.
The phone was answered after just one ring. Xiao Ruo’s anxious voice came through immediately. “Sister Wei?”
“Mm.”
“Oh my God, how could this happen? Sister Wei, you actually went alone to catch them cheating. No, no, the point is Ye Zichu and Qi Qi… my God…” Xiao Ruo grew increasingly incoherent as she spoke.
Ling Wei said, “Save the video properly. Let’s meet somewhere and talk in person.”
“Why not go to your place?” Xiao Ruo asked in confusion.
Thinking of how Ye Zichu and Qi Qi had rushed out just now, they were probably heading to her home. Ling Wei truly did not want to see them at this moment, so she said, “Let’s go to Yixin.”
Outside, the blazing sun was already tilting westward, yet the temperature had not dropped in the slightest. In the city center lined with tall buildings, few people wandered the streets. Most hid indoors with the air conditioning on.
Yixin was a coffee and dessert shop located on a commercial street, not far from the entertainment company where Ling Wei worked. She especially loved their matcha cake and visited often. Right now, in her low spirits, she desperately wanted to eat two overly sweet slices of cake to lift her mood.
By the time she arrived at the café, Chen Xiaoruo was already waiting. As soon as she saw Ling Wei enter, she waved at her quickly.
“Sister Wei,” Xiao Ruo called out, then carefully studied her face. “Are you okay?”
Ling Wei nodded faintly. She had been mentally prepared when she went to catch them, so she had remained relatively calm. In her previous life, after learning the truth, she had completely lost her mind, driving around aimlessly in a daze until she ultimately lost her life.
“Sis…” Xiao Ruo called softly, looking as if she wanted to ask something but did not dare.
Ling Wei propped her chin on one hand and stared directly at Chen Xiaoruo. She noticed that Xiao Ruo, ten years younger than she remembered, looked quite cute. There was less shrewd competence and more youthful sweetness. At this time she was still slightly chubby, with a round, plump face. The more Ling Wei looked at her, the more she wanted to pinch it. So she reached out and squeezed her cheek. It was smooth and springy, with an excellent feel.
Xiao Ruo: …
Ling Wei opened and closed her fingers, pinching several times before finally letting go of Xiao Ruo’s face with satisfaction.
Rubbing her reddened cheeks, Xiao Ruo asked pitifully, “Sis, does pinching my face make you feel better?”
Ling Wei nodded. “Seems like it.”
With the air of someone ready to sacrifice herself, Xiao Ruo said, “Then keep pinching, until you feel better!”
Ling Wei could not help laughing. “I’m not a sadist.”
Xiao Ruo pulled a USB drive from her bag and handed it over. “I copied the video onto this. What are you planning to do?”
Ling Wei took the small USB drive and turned it over in her hand. Seeing the curiosity written all over Xiao Ruo’s face, she smiled. “Don’t let your imagination run wild. I’m not planning to do anything. I just want to scare them a little.”
“You’re just going to let them off that easily?”
“For now.” With that leverage in her hands, the two of them would surely live in constant fear from now on. She wanted to see what tricks they could still pull without her to take advantage of.
Chen Xiao Ruo suddenly felt that the Ling Wei in front of her had become somewhat unreadable, as if she had matured overnight. Was it because of heartbreak?
The two of them sat in the café for the entire afternoon. Ling Wei briefly told her what had happened. Chen Xiao Ruo was furious, but she understood her limits and only reminded her, “Ye Zichu stayed at your place for so long. You’d better change the lock when you get back today.”
Ling Wei nodded. “There’s a locksmith at the entrance of the residential complex. I’ll have it changed as soon as I get back.”
“Oh right, Sister Zhao said there’s a ball the day after tomorrow. She told you to dress up and make sure you attend,” Xiao Ruo reminded her.
At the mention of “Sister Zhao,” Ling Wei let out a cold snort. “What, is she planning to pimp me out again?”
Xiao Ruo spread her hands. “She said if you dare to stand her up again this time, she’ll have the company blacklist you immediately.”
Ling Wei raised her eyebrows and drawled, “Fine… I’ll go.”